Zhou Quan sat in the chair, turned his head and quietly looked at Li Mai talking to her second grandmother, and thought that she was very beautiful at this moment.
When he saw her looking at him, he gave her a gentle smile.
Although he couldn't hear what she and his second grandmother were saying, he could see that the two were chatting happily. While his second grandmother was speaking, Li Mai listened very attentively and would occasionally turn around to look at him. He wondered if his second grandmother was talking to her about him.
He quietly clenched his fist, then silently looked away, gazing at the vast expanse of water in the village below. It was a pity that he had suffered such a calamity, and before he had even recovered, she was going to have to suffer with him again.
"What are you thinking about?" Just as he was deep in thought, Li Mai's voice came from beside him.
He looked up and saw that Li Mai had already returned.
He turned to look over there and saw his second grandmother smiling as she watched Zhuzhu and her granddaughter play, while his own mother went over to talk to his second grandmother.
When Zhou Zhong and the others saw Li Mai arrive, some of them walked away.
Zhou Quan reached out and grabbed Li Mai's hand, turned to look down, and sighed, "It looks like we won't be able to live in our house anymore!"
"It's alright, we can rebuild it once the water recedes!" Li Mai comforted him softly.
"Mmm!" Zhou Quan responded softly.
By the afternoon, the water had mostly receded, and people began to go into the village to check on the situation.
People went to check on the four families who hadn't escaped. The elderly and children had all drowned, and some children had even been swept away by the water; their bodies were gone too.
Of the four families, seven people survived. They only managed to avoid being swept away by climbing a tree in the yard after realizing they couldn't escape.
Zhou Erleng's family survived: Zhou Erleng and his father. Zhou Ermao's family survived: Zhou Ermao and his sister. Zhou Ju's family survived: Zhou Ju alone. Zhou Yuan's family survived: Zhou Yuan and his mother.
In the end, the four families only found five bodies; the others were missing, presumably swept away by the flood. The houses of these families were also partially destroyed by the flood.
The seven survivors were stunned. They knelt blankly beside their loved ones' corpses, unable to cry or speak, as if they had lost their souls.
Especially Zhou Erleng's father, who was scolded by the clan chief. His stupidity angered the clan chief and some men in the village so much that they wanted to beat him up.
As for the other person they hadn't taken seriously during their discussion a few days ago, Zhou Ermao's father, his body was now laid out in front of Zhou Ermao and his sister.
He discovered the flood was coming in the middle of the night and couldn't escape. In his panic, he only had time to help his son and daughter up a tree before he was hit on the head by a tree stump swept by the flood and fell into the floodwaters, where he drowned.
The main problem is that his house doesn't have a courtyard wall or a gate.
Other families with walls and gates are better off, as they have fewer rotten branches and rocks in their yards.
Because Zhou Quan's courtyard wall was not high, it was flooded and a section of it collapsed. After they returned, they opened the gate and released a stream of floodwater.
When people returned to the village, the children and the elderly were left on the north mountain.
Zhuzhu, Zhou Quan, and Zhou Tao were left on the mountain, while Li Mai went back with Zhao Shi and Old Man Zhou, along with Zhou Lei.
The courtyard was filled with scattered rocks, interspersed with red mud from the mountains, making it very difficult for them to walk around.
When Li Mai opened the door, a lot of water flowed out, and the water inside the house had flooded the kang (a heated brick bed).
The entire room and the kang (heated brick bed) were in such a state that it was impossible to live there anymore.
As the sun set, everyone quietly returned to the mountain, where they would have to spend the rest of the night in their tents.
Fortunately, it didn't rain again. In the evening, each family ate some of the food they had brought with them and then quietly went to rest.
Today, several more families went to find some wooden planks, so people can finally take turns lying down and resting.
Li Mai went out at noon to find some mugwort, and in the afternoon she put it outside to dry. In the evening, she put it on the fire piled up at the entrance of the tent. Gradually, the scent of mugwort filled the air, and the mosquitoes finally left the area. People in the tents were no longer bothered by mosquitoes.
She also placed some of the other tents there.
The women and children rested inside the tents, while outside, the chieftain organized the men to discuss how to rebuild the village.
Zhou Quan was also helped over by Old Man Zhou and Zhou Lei to listen to everyone's meeting. After all, Zhou Quan had done a lot of work before, helping people build workshops and houses. He had also helped build many houses on some large construction sites, so he was more experienced.
As soon as Zhou Quan arrived, his younger brothers sat down next to him.
The clan chief spoke first, “As you all have seen today, most of the houses have collapsed, and the yards are covered in mud up to the calves. It’s not just the yards, but also the roads in the village.”
"Let's discuss this," the clan chief said with a sigh. "Should we choose a new place to build a village and live here, or should we stay here? If we stay here, we also need to think about whether this kind of thing will happen again in the future."
People just looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
"Sanli, what do you think we should do?" the clan chief asked Old Man Zhou.
Old Man Zhou thought for a moment and asked Zhou Quan, "What do you think, Xiao Quan?"
Everyone immediately turned to look at Zhou Quan.
When they saw Zhou Quan, they were reminded of his legs. In the past two years, everyone in the village knew that his legs were crippled and he had become paralyzed. Now that they saw him walking and even sitting down to discuss things with everyone, they found it quite novel.
However, they were all willing to listen to Zhou Quan's words.
Now that those experienced workers who worked outside are no longer around, Zhou Quan is considered to have more experience than them.
Zhou Quan thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I think it would be quite nice if our village went to that wasteland to the east. It's right next to the eastern slope of our North Mountain. The location is high here, and the south side is low with a river. That location is actually quite suitable for the villagers to live in."
"However, if we want to use that land to build a village, we need to get approval from the government, and we also need to level the land and lay a good foundation. I imagine the difficulty of the project is similar to clearing the silt and rocks in our current village."
After Zhou Quan finished speaking, the clan chief nodded and asked the other clan elders, "What do you uncles think?"
The clan chiefs thought for a moment and said, "Moving over there is possible, but the feng shui there is not as good as the location of our village now."
“Our location is surrounded by mountains on three sides, which is the perfect spot for accumulating wealth like a treasure basin.”
"Yes, this was chosen by our ancestors."
After the elders finished speaking, everyone fell silent. They had great faith in their ancestors, but now they were unsure of what to do.
Rebuilding a house anywhere is always a hassle. If the feng shui is good, then this is the place to go!
Zhou Quan glanced at them indifferently, "If it's a treasure basin with good feng shui, why has our village been so poor for hundreds of years, and why have we never produced many scholars, let alone an official in the capital?"
Clan Chief: ......
Zhou Quan's words shook people's resolve once again. Yes, their ancestors had settled here for hundreds of years, and yet they were still so poor, and now they were suffering this calamity.
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